:00:40. > :00:45.One good morning. On this, the most holy day in the Christian calendar,
:00:45. > :00:48.I bring you prove that the Church of England is not immune to change.
:00:48. > :00:52.Father Phil Ritchie told his parishioners this week that they
:00:52. > :00:57.will not have to celebrate Easter by going to church. He said they
:00:57. > :01:02.could instead stay at home, have a lying, eat some chocolate and do
:01:02. > :01:09.various other things. I'm sorry to say that he forgot to say, watching
:01:09. > :01:16.this programme. Joining us today to review the papers chasm Kevin
:01:16. > :01:20.Maguire of the Daily Mirror and Sarah Baxter of the Sunday Times.
:01:20. > :01:25.Despite the Easter break, politics is not on hold. The past few weeks
:01:25. > :01:29.have not been easy fault any of the main parties. For Labour, there was
:01:29. > :01:34.that shock by-election defeat. So, with local elections only a few
:01:34. > :01:39.weeks away, how do they all plan to get back on track? With me this
:01:39. > :01:45.morning, the Housing Minister, Grant Shapps, and one of the rising
:01:45. > :01:49.stars of the opposition team, Chuka Umunna, the Shadow Business
:01:49. > :01:54.Secretary. And joining us from Cumbria, the President of the
:01:54. > :01:56.Liberal Democrats, Tim Farron. Also this morning, teachers are accusing
:01:56. > :02:02.the Government of behaving like a school bully over changes to their
:02:02. > :02:06.pay and pensions and the move towards more academies. The leader
:02:06. > :02:11.of the biggest teachers' union joins me to explain why her members
:02:11. > :02:15.are threatening to strike. And the actor Liam Neeson's career has
:02:15. > :02:21.taken him from intense historical dramas to all-action blockbusters.
:02:21. > :02:24.He explains how growing up in the home town of the Reverend Ian
:02:24. > :02:34.Paisley set him on the path to stardom. Finally, some music for
:02:34. > :02:37.
:02:37. > :02:43.Easter morning. The choir of New College, Oxford, are here. All that
:02:43. > :02:48.coming up, but first, the news, with Naga. Good morning. Police
:02:48. > :02:53.have charged a 35-year-old man with a public order offence following
:02:53. > :02:56.the disruption to the Boat Race yesterday. The race was suspended
:02:56. > :03:01.for half an hour after a man appeared deliberately to swim up to
:03:01. > :03:07.one of the boats. After the race, one of the Oxford team collapsed,
:03:07. > :03:12.and he is in a stable condition in hospital. It was a nail-biting race,
:03:12. > :03:18.both crews were side by side, more than 10 minutes in, when the race
:03:18. > :03:23.was stopped. A swimmer had been spotted between the two boats. A
:03:23. > :03:29.man has been charged - Trenton Oldfield is a campaigner who runs a
:03:29. > :03:33.blog. He had previously described the Boat Race as a place where
:03:33. > :03:38.elitists come together. His arrest came after one of the most dramatic
:03:38. > :03:43.races in the history of the event. Shortly after it had been restarted,
:03:43. > :03:50.a clash caused an oar to break in the Oxford boat, and Cambridge
:03:50. > :03:58.easily won. One of the losing team collapsed at the finish line, and
:03:58. > :04:01.was taken to hospital, but he is said to be doing well. The
:04:02. > :04:06.President of the Oxford University Boat Club said his team had had the
:04:06. > :04:10.culmination of their careers taken from them. Other critics are asking
:04:10. > :04:15.how the swimmer managed to get so close to the crews, raising
:04:15. > :04:20.concerns about security ahead of the Diamond Jubilee and the
:04:20. > :04:26.Olympics. Hackers who claimed to have disrupted the Home Office
:04:26. > :04:35.website are threatening to strike again. A Twitter Group says the
:04:35. > :04:39.British Government can expect attacks every Saturday from now on.
:04:39. > :04:45.Activists in Syria say as many as 160 civilians have been killed in
:04:45. > :04:49.one of the worst days of violence there. A ceasefire negotiated by
:04:49. > :04:59.then the United Nations is due to come into effect within a few days.
:04:59. > :04:59.
:04:59. > :05:03.But the city of Homs has once again come under heavy bombardment. Dr
:05:03. > :05:08.Rowan Williams will deliver his last Easter message as Archbishop
:05:08. > :05:13.of Canterbury this morning. In his sermon at Canterbury cathedral, he
:05:13. > :05:18.is expected to touch on continuing violence in the Middle East. He
:05:18. > :05:22.will talk about Israel's right to exist, but also about the
:05:22. > :05:27.harassment being suffered by Palestinians at checkpoints. That's
:05:27. > :05:30.the news for now. In a moment, we will have a review of the Sunday
:05:30. > :05:34.papers, but first, Easter weekend is the time when teachers
:05:35. > :05:39.traditionally gather for their conferences. Yesterday, members of
:05:39. > :05:43.the biggest union, the NASUWT, voted to step up action against
:05:43. > :05:48.changes to pay and pensions. They do not much like the Government's
:05:48. > :05:53.education reforms, either. I am joined by the leader of the union,
:05:53. > :05:58.Chris Keates. How serious are you about strike action? Well, we are
:05:58. > :06:02.very serious about taking action in order to defend pay and conditions
:06:02. > :06:06.of service, because we see those as being inextricably linked to
:06:06. > :06:12.raising standards of education in schools. Strike action, I'm afraid,
:06:12. > :06:17.has dominated the agenda, because the NASUWT, since the 1st December,
:06:17. > :06:23.has been doing an action short of strike action, where we try to hit
:06:23. > :06:28.things which do not actually disruption pupils in the classroom.
:06:28. > :06:32.Strike action for us is a last resort. We would prefer to be in a
:06:32. > :06:35.position where the Government is engaging with us seriously to talk
:06:35. > :06:39.about the real concerns of our members about the impact of
:06:39. > :06:43.government policies on children and young people. But that's the
:06:43. > :06:47.question, are you serious about balloting members on striking, or
:06:47. > :06:51.is this merely an opening gambit? We have already balloted our
:06:51. > :06:55.members, and we have a mandate for strike action and for action short
:06:55. > :07:00.of strike action. But we have been running a carefully planned
:07:00. > :07:04.strategy to try to get the Government to come into proper
:07:04. > :07:07.discussions, without having to resort to strike action. Clearly,
:07:07. > :07:12.if the Government is not listening, as they are not at the moment, then
:07:12. > :07:16.we have to be talking about what the next stage would be. What do
:07:16. > :07:21.you say to parents and pupils who are worried about how the summer
:07:21. > :07:24.exam season might be disrupted? can tell you categorically that the
:07:24. > :07:30.NASUWT is not planning to take strike action during the exam
:07:30. > :07:34.season, and would never do so. Our members are teachers first. They
:07:34. > :07:38.care very much about their pupils. So what are we talking about, are
:07:38. > :07:43.we talking about the autumn? would be looking towards the autumn
:07:43. > :07:46.term, I think, but first we would be looking at escalating our action
:07:46. > :07:51.short of strike action. We have been working with governors and
:07:52. > :07:55.parent groups to talk to them about our concerns, and trying to engage
:07:55. > :08:00.them in our campaign, of trying to get the Government to listen to the
:08:00. > :08:05.serious concerns of the profession. Would you co-ordinate any strike
:08:05. > :08:09.action with the NUT? We always want to work with our sister trade
:08:09. > :08:12.unions. We will be in discussions with the NUT, but at the end of the
:08:13. > :08:17.day, the action the NASUWT will take will be on the basis of
:08:17. > :08:21.consultation with our members, and whether we think it is right and
:08:21. > :08:27.appropriate. Is this not a bit after the event? It is clear the
:08:27. > :08:32.Government is not going to change its position on pay and pensions...
:08:32. > :08:36.Not at all. They have only started their assault on the national pay
:08:36. > :08:40.framework just at this point in time, so there is a lot to play for.
:08:40. > :08:44.On pensions, they may have put what they see as a final deal on the
:08:44. > :08:47.table, but in fact, they have been subject from us to a legal
:08:47. > :08:51.challenge about the impact, which has to be worked through. It is
:08:51. > :08:56.quite clear that the it if they fail the equality impact test, then
:08:56. > :08:59.they will have to make changes to the pension scheme. As far as we
:08:59. > :09:03.are concerned, these are important matters which are still up for
:09:03. > :09:06.discussion. Why should teachers not pay more into their pensions and
:09:06. > :09:11.retire a bit later, just like everybody else in the public
:09:11. > :09:15.sector? I think these are highly complex reasons, but first of all,
:09:15. > :09:19.I think there has been a lot of misinformation about teachers'
:09:19. > :09:22.pensions. They do pay a significant contribution, and teachers always
:09:23. > :09:26.knew that if there was a problem with the pension scheme, they may
:09:27. > :09:31.have to pay more. What is angering teachers is that the Government has
:09:31. > :09:37.not been able to demonstrate that there is a problem with the pension
:09:37. > :09:42.scheme, and so they see this as an additional tax on teachers. In
:09:42. > :09:47.terms of their pay, already, the Government's policies are having a
:09:47. > :09:51.massive impact on recruitment and retention. Over half of teachers
:09:51. > :09:55.are seriously considering leaving teaching, and last year alone,
:09:55. > :10:00.there was a 30% drop in applications for initial teacher
:10:00. > :10:04.training. That is unheard-of, at a time of economic recession, when
:10:04. > :10:08.actually, people from the private and public sector gravitate towards
:10:08. > :10:13.teaching because they have always seen it as good job security.
:10:13. > :10:17.you very much for joining us. Time for a look at the papers now. On
:10:17. > :10:27.the front pages this morning, inevitably, it is the picture of
:10:27. > :10:32.the Boat Race, this is the observer, together with a story about George
:10:33. > :10:39.Osborne's possible changes to the Osborne's possible changes to the
:10:39. > :10:44.tax arrangements for charitable donations. The Sunday Times, once
:10:44. > :10:48.again, the same picture. They have also got a story about George
:10:48. > :10:52.Osborne, telling everybody that he is going to keep the top rate of
:10:52. > :10:57.tax at 45p. Scotland on Sunday, they have the same picture.
:10:57. > :11:02.Interestingly, some of the papers have the man after he has gone past
:11:02. > :11:12.the blades, some of them have it before. They have got a story about
:11:12. > :11:21.Alex Salmond, and what independence might mean for Scotland's nuclear
:11:21. > :11:26.status. The Mail on Sunday has a story about the King of Bahrain,
:11:26. > :11:31.and plans for him to have lunch with the Queen during the Olympics.
:11:31. > :11:35.The Independent on Sunday has a story about how research for
:11:35. > :11:40.climate change is going to have its funding cut, apparently. Welcome to
:11:41. > :11:47.both of you - first of all, Kevin both of you - first of all, Kevin
:11:47. > :11:56.Maguire... We have now got philanthropists up
:11:56. > :12:01.in arms over proposals to restrict tax relief, for people giving more
:12:01. > :12:09.than �200,000. That will really test how keen they are to give,
:12:09. > :12:12.test how keen they are to give, these well-heeled philanthropists!
:12:12. > :12:18.This one does right to the heart of the Big Society, which is all about
:12:19. > :12:23.voluntary giving, and good luck to the Chancellor, if he thinks he is
:12:23. > :12:28.the Chancellor, if he thinks he is going to beat McMillan on this one.
:12:28. > :12:32.I lived in America for about eight years, and everybody gives more
:12:32. > :12:36.there, because you get straightforward tax relief on
:12:36. > :12:39.everything you give. Even I gave more on that basis, you just feel
:12:39. > :12:44.more generous, because, why not give to your favourite charity,
:12:44. > :12:50.instead of giving to the taxman? It does seem like a crazy thing, and I
:12:50. > :12:56.can see why charities are outraged. The argument is that actually, the
:12:56. > :13:00.most selfless giving his to the tax collector. Often, if you give to
:13:00. > :13:09.the arts, you want your name attached, you want to reflect in
:13:09. > :13:16.the glory of it. At least they are not looking for tax loopholes. I
:13:16. > :13:22.think they are shooting themselves in the foot. But the Budget is
:13:22. > :13:28.still producing headlines, so long after the event. Yes, and they are
:13:28. > :13:33.all negative. I think George Osborne has taken his eye off the
:13:33. > :13:37.ball. He is always said to be a great political strategist,
:13:37. > :13:40.although I have always had my doubts about that. He has gone on
:13:40. > :13:44.the back foot by saying in the Sunday Times that he is not going
:13:44. > :13:51.to reduce the rate further, because I think he definitely wanted to
:13:51. > :13:58.reduce that top rate down to 40p. The Boat Race, what a story.
:13:58. > :14:05.agree with you, this has to be the headline of the morning. Amazing
:14:05. > :14:08.pictures. I gather it was some kind of protest about elitism. But in
:14:08. > :14:13.the good old days, when it was a truly elitist institution, I think
:14:13. > :14:17.they would have kept on going! What a fascinating story that was,
:14:17. > :14:21.anybody might have thought the Boat Race was boring! And they are
:14:21. > :14:30.always the same two universities, it is not an open competition, is
:14:30. > :14:36.it? This is the Sunday Times, picking up on this anti-elitist
:14:36. > :14:39.campaigner, privately educated, who is said to have drawn inspiration
:14:39. > :14:46.from the person who threw themselves in front of the King's
:14:46. > :14:51.horse at the Derby. It is a curious protest, isn't it? Elitism, it is a
:14:51. > :14:59.curious approach. It does not compare to Emily Davidson, who was
:14:59. > :15:02.campaigning for half the population to get the vote. It is a rather
:15:02. > :15:08.general point, campaigning for world peace. But it does raids
:15:08. > :15:17.questions about the Olympics, of course. The marathon, and cycling
:15:17. > :15:21.and so on, going down the streets. I wanted to draw attention to this
:15:21. > :15:27.shocking picture in the Independent on Sunday, a mass grave in Syria.
:15:27. > :15:32.We are not seeing much from Syria these days, and one reason we are
:15:32. > :15:36.not is because my beloved colleague got killed there. President Assad
:15:36. > :15:40.and his henchmen deliberately targeted a media centre, so that
:15:40. > :15:44.journalists would be afraid to report from there. I am not
:15:44. > :15:53.suggesting that journalists should all pile in and risk their lives,
:15:53. > :15:57.it is terrible enough that Marie and her photographer lost their
:15:57. > :16:01.lives, but I think on this day, we should reflect that the killing is
:16:01. > :16:11.still going on there. It is a terrible picture, but I am glad to
:16:11. > :16:12.
:16:12. > :16:15.You are right about the Marie kolvin point. If you get
:16:15. > :16:19.journalists out, organisations pull them back, you have the shocking
:16:19. > :16:22.killing and other people were injured, you can basically kill in
:16:22. > :16:27.privacy, in silence. There is a real sense he's getting away with
:16:27. > :16:34.it and I just want people to feel that outrage even if they don't see
:16:34. > :16:39.it every day. Back to more domestic matters. Kevin, St Paul's for the
:16:39. > :16:42.Conservatives? Absolutely. The anti-eliteest with the boat race.
:16:42. > :16:46.There is a poll here which says six out of ten people think the
:16:46. > :16:51.Government is a Government of chums which the Mail on Sunday say it was
:16:51. > :16:54.a phrase they used last Sunday and then in their leader, Norman Tebbit
:16:54. > :16:59.picked it up and accused the Government of it during the week.
:16:59. > :17:03.It's a weakness because it blows apart the idea we are all in this
:17:03. > :17:06.together and it's a growing problem for David Cameron. He's getting a
:17:06. > :17:11.lot of this criticism within the Conservative Party, the likes of
:17:11. > :17:17.David Davis and Mark Pritchard, Nadine Dorries, the true heirs to
:17:17. > :17:21.Thatcher who fought their way to the top. You look at this, you know
:17:21. > :17:24.it's a problem, but then you look at the details of the poll and they
:17:25. > :17:29.ask who would you invite to dinner. Boris Johnson is the most popular
:17:29. > :17:35.politician, 22% would invite him to dinner. He's performed an amazing
:17:35. > :17:39.feat of being somebody who went to Eton, was in the Bullingdon Club
:17:39. > :17:43.and yet he somehow pulls off this man of the people act. That poll is
:17:43. > :17:47.not particularly good for Ed Miliband is it? He's down at 45%.
:17:47. > :17:51.He doesn't seem like a very good dinner companion does he, Ed. One
:17:51. > :17:55.thing about the Tories at the moment is that, you mentioned about
:17:55. > :17:57.how the Budget is carrying on, they seem to have lost control of the
:17:57. > :18:02.story, the narrative. That's dangerous for politicians when they
:18:02. > :18:05.are no longer in control of how they present themselves. What
:18:05. > :18:08.intrigues me is that the Conservative dip in the polls has
:18:09. > :18:12.not been matched by a significant rise in the Labour opinion. At the
:18:12. > :18:20.moment people are saying they are less likely to vote Conservative,
:18:20. > :18:25.they are not saying they'll transfer their vote. ComRes had a
:18:25. > :18:28.rating. David Cameron's personal ratings are down, but not as far as
:18:28. > :18:32.Ed Miliband or Nick Clegg. It feels in politics at the moment as though
:18:32. > :18:36.the Government's losing its way but Labour hasn't found its way. Labour
:18:37. > :18:42.has a huge job to persuade anybody they are a credible opposition at
:18:43. > :18:46.the moment. Ed Miliband will find that more people will prefer Boris
:18:46. > :18:51.Johnson and Ken Livingstone than him for dinner. The Pope's brother?
:18:51. > :18:55.I didn't know he had a brother. didn't either, but it seems that at
:18:55. > :19:00.the ripe old age of 88, his brother's written a kiss-and-tell
:19:00. > :19:03.memoir, which might be exaggerating a bit! He's apparently claiming
:19:03. > :19:08.he's worried about his brother's health. He is looking pretty frail,
:19:08. > :19:11.the Pope, so on Easter Day, we can wish the Pope good health but
:19:11. > :19:16.really who needs that, he's made it to the top of his tree there, the
:19:16. > :19:22.Pope. He thought he'd got away with it and yet here comes his brother
:19:22. > :19:28.telling his story. Amazing. We know his wartime record's been "looked
:19:28. > :19:35.at" in the past, what he was up to. The Observer again, there is a
:19:35. > :19:39.survey by Demos on faithful citizens which finds, maybe it's
:19:39. > :19:45.counterintuitive that religious people are more likely to be right-
:19:45. > :19:49.wing than left-wing. It seems that no more people, positions on
:19:49. > :19:53.immigration and so on, are more likely to be on the left than right.
:19:53. > :19:59.I suppose Jesus was a carpenter, maybe even a Trade Union member.
:19:59. > :20:02.Now you don't even have to go to church, you just have to be a
:20:02. > :20:08.general do-gooder. That's a red rag to a bull on both sides of the
:20:08. > :20:14.argument isn't it? Yes because often the left is painted as being
:20:14. > :20:18.agnostic and atheists. Giro Juan Williams is always popping up in
:20:18. > :20:21.the New Statesman. But it seems to be the role of the Archbishop of
:20:21. > :20:26.Canterbury to attack whoever is in power. I seem to remember Tony
:20:26. > :20:32.Blair had a few problems with Iraq. He did. The new face of feminism,
:20:32. > :20:39.Sarah? I thought since we were mentioning... This is the new front
:20:39. > :20:42.of feminism. With a vanity strap across the middle I see. This is a
:20:42. > :20:46.feminist group that's been going to Davos, protesting against
:20:46. > :20:52.Berlusconi, they've been protesting in France, they actually come from
:20:52. > :20:55.the Ukraine and they've got a novel form. They all look like Brigitte
:20:55. > :21:01.Bardot and they rip their tops off for attention. That is the hard
:21:01. > :21:09.core face of feminism today. There we go. The hosepipe ban? Love this.
:21:09. > :21:16.This is the water minister, Richard Benyon who in the Sunday People,
:21:16. > :21:21.Water Gate II they called it. He accuses the newspapers of turning
:21:21. > :21:26.the tap on, the journalists saying that's not the case but there we
:21:26. > :21:30.are, it's great. I think he thinks it's a set up doesn't he? He tuz.
:21:30. > :21:34.The paper denies that. In the Leveson period, I think it would be
:21:34. > :21:37.rash for journalists to go around turning taps on. There we go. Thank
:21:37. > :21:42.you both very much indeed for joining us this morning. It's been
:21:42. > :21:45.a strange week for the weather, snow in Scotland in the north and
:21:45. > :21:48.hosepipe bans in the south. What next I wonder? Rain perhaps. Now
:21:48. > :21:52.the detail from Matt in the weather the detail from Matt in the weather
:21:52. > :21:57.studio. Good morning. It has to be doesn't it really. Good news for
:21:57. > :22:00.many a gardener and farmer out there. The wet weather, well it's
:22:00. > :22:03.general dampness this morning with plenty of cloud around. While some
:22:03. > :22:05.will lose the morning rain or drizzle, for the afternoon, the
:22:05. > :22:09.rain turns heavy across parts of Scotland and Northern Ireland.
:22:09. > :22:13.Further south, we start to introduce a bit of brightness. In
:22:13. > :22:17.the south-west, the Midlands and the east of England particularly,
:22:17. > :22:22.cloud breaks and some sunshine in eastern parts of Wales. One or two
:22:22. > :22:25.well scattered showers. Temperatures 13-16. For most,
:22:25. > :22:28.around 9-136789 turning wet across north-west England. For Northern
:22:28. > :22:31.Ireland and western Scotland, the breeze picks up and the rain turns
:22:31. > :22:34.that bit heavier and more persistent. That will clear into
:22:34. > :22:37.the first part of the night. Temporary dip in temperatures. We
:22:37. > :22:41.hold on to the damp weather in England and Wales but later on,
:22:41. > :22:45.rain pushes back north and eastwards to most parts, preceded
:22:45. > :22:51.by a bit of snow in the tops of the Scottish mountains. Easter Monday
:22:51. > :22:56.is a day to raid the family games cupboard, or put on the waterproofs
:22:56. > :22:58.and brave the elements. Patchy rain in the east. Turns a little drier
:22:58. > :23:02.for some across Scotland and Northern Ireland. The morning rain
:23:02. > :23:07.replaced by sunshine and showers. That sets us up for the rest of the
:23:07. > :23:09.week. James, some sunshine around week. James, some sunshine around
:23:09. > :23:12.but more rain too. Thank you very much. Last year's local elections
:23:12. > :23:15.were a low point for the Liberal Democrats, so it's perhaps not
:23:15. > :23:18.surprising that ahead of next month's polls, they are trying to
:23:18. > :23:22.assert their authority and independence within the coalition.
:23:22. > :23:25.The latest disagreement is over Government plans to extend Internet
:23:25. > :23:31.surveillance and secret courts. Is this flexing of the party muscles
:23:31. > :23:36.enough to win back support? The party President Tim far Ron joins
:23:36. > :23:41.us now from his home in Cumbria. Good morning. Morning, James.
:23:41. > :23:45.You said in your party's website this weekend that "we should be
:23:45. > :23:48.prepared to put our foot down and pull the plug on the changes to the
:23:48. > :23:53.surveillance laws and the plans for secret courts". Does that mean you
:23:53. > :23:56.want to kill them outright and not just amend them?
:23:56. > :24:01.It's important to be reasonable and look at the draft legislations it
:24:01. > :24:06.will now be, not an outright Bill and see what it says and look at it
:24:06. > :24:10.on its merits. I'm in no mood whatsoever to apologise for or to
:24:11. > :24:13.amend or unpick authoritarian legislation. It strikess me that a
:24:13. > :24:18.Liberal Democrat or Government includes Liberal Democrats should
:24:18. > :24:21.ensure that Britain ends up a more liberal place, not less. Like many
:24:21. > :24:25.of us who're liberals, were horrified by the original press
:24:25. > :24:29.report about what the surveillance measures might lead to. There must
:24:29. > :24:34.be absolutely no question of universal Internet surveillance
:24:34. > :24:37.across this country. Are you going to oppose these
:24:37. > :24:43.measures as currently outlined in the green paper and currently
:24:43. > :24:48.reported, or will you try to amend them, or do you want to kill them
:24:48. > :24:52.outright? I'll see what it says first of all.
:24:52. > :24:56.You are prepared to compromise? Well, I'm prepared to recognise
:24:56. > :25:01.that there are obviously, there is a need in a modern society with new
:25:01. > :25:05.technology to have a look at what needs to be given to the Security
:25:05. > :25:07.Services, but only if it's absolutely clear there is no
:25:08. > :25:12.universal access. We are prepared to kill them, be absolutely clear
:25:12. > :25:15.about that, if it comes down to it. If we think this is a threat to a
:25:15. > :25:18.free and liberal society, then there'll be no question of
:25:18. > :25:23.unpicking them or compromising, this just simply must not happen.
:25:23. > :25:27.Is this a good way to make legislation?
:25:27. > :25:29.Public debate, public division, messy compromise like the Health
:25:29. > :25:32.Bill? I think actually what you are
:25:32. > :25:36.seeing is the good side of coalition politics. What happened
:25:36. > :25:42.in the last Government is, you would have an unofficial coalition
:25:42. > :25:44.between Blair and Brown where there would be desperately unpleasant and
:25:44. > :25:47.personal disagreements that were all buried beneath the surface but
:25:47. > :25:51.we found out about them. In the coalition, you get honest debate
:25:51. > :25:54.upfront which is not that personal, it's not aimed at individuals, it's
:25:54. > :25:56.about issues and differences of opinion. It shouldn't come as a
:25:57. > :26:00.surprise to you or anybody else that the Liberal Democrats and
:26:00. > :26:04.Conservatives think very different things and whilst there are some
:26:04. > :26:07.people like David Davis in the Tory party who have Liberal instincts,
:26:07. > :26:11.they are in a minority and it will be up to Liberal Democrats to fight
:26:11. > :26:14.the corner for freedom and for liberal values in this coalition.
:26:14. > :26:17.Theresa May, the Home Secretary, said in the Sunday Telegraph this
:26:17. > :26:20.morning that there will be a Bill in the Queen's speech, it will be a
:26:20. > :26:25.Bill, not a draft Bill, but a Bill that will be introduced and passed
:26:25. > :26:29.in the next session of Parliament? It's interesting to hear her say
:26:29. > :26:32.that. I would be surprised if we ended up in a situation where any
:26:32. > :26:35.Bill that looked anything like the press reports that were talked
:26:35. > :26:38.about earlier this week got anywhere near the House of Commons
:26:38. > :26:41.and if it did, Liberal Democrats would not support it. I don't think
:26:41. > :26:44.that is what is going to happen. My conversations with the Deputy Prime
:26:44. > :26:48.Minister and others reveal there's been significant movement this week.
:26:48. > :26:51.I suspect a lot of the reports are exaggerated, but if they warrant,
:26:52. > :26:57.no such Bill should get anywhere near the House of Commons. We are
:26:57. > :27:00.discussing this on the day that the Home Office website has been hacked
:27:00. > :27:05.again. Do you think people wouldn't say, it's reasonable that the
:27:05. > :27:08.Security Services should be able to monitor what terrorists do, how
:27:08. > :27:10.they communicate across social media and Liberal Democrats like
:27:10. > :27:14.yourselves shouldn't tie the hands of the Security Services if they
:27:14. > :27:18.need the powers that they are asking for?
:27:18. > :27:21.Yes, that's why if there are occasions when that is necessary,
:27:21. > :27:24.then through an appropriate judicial process, then such powers
:27:24. > :27:28.could potentially be granted. We are not saying that the Security
:27:28. > :27:31.Services shouldn't have the right to protect us and keep us safe. We
:27:31. > :27:35.are saying we should not have the authorities, the state, with the
:27:35. > :27:38.power to snoop on any given individual who potentially is a
:27:38. > :27:41.totally innocent person that,'s something that should be very
:27:42. > :27:46.alarming to anybody that values their right as a free citizen in
:27:46. > :27:49.this country. What do you say to people who say your party's facing
:27:49. > :27:53.a wipe-out at the local election and you are using this to posture
:27:53. > :27:57.that ahead of the elections? Liberal Democrats are campaigners,
:27:57. > :28:03.we are campaigners in opposition and we are campaigners when we are
:28:03. > :28:05.in Government. In the last Parliament, it's interesting, you
:28:05. > :28:10.had awful authoritarian administration bringing through
:28:10. > :28:14.legislation like ID cards, 28 days detention without trial. Liberal
:28:14. > :28:18.Democrats campaigned very hard against those measures and we
:28:18. > :28:19.couldn't do anything because we are in opposition. Now we can get
:28:19. > :28:23.authoritarian legislation brought forward, the Liberal Democrats take
:28:23. > :28:27.it out and remove it, so it's good to do it in that way. As for the
:28:27. > :28:30.local elections, I've been knocking on doors in my patch in Cumbria
:28:30. > :28:34.this last week and across the country in previous weeks and I get
:28:34. > :28:38.the sense that we are aware this will be a difficult time for us.
:28:38. > :28:44.This is the first liberal mid term for 65 years so this is new
:28:44. > :28:47.territory and we know it's hard. We recognise that after last year's
:28:47. > :28:49.poor results, we are determined to fight back and to stand up for what
:28:50. > :28:54.we've achieved in Government, for what we are stopping the Tories
:28:54. > :28:58.doing and what we are doing in terms of clearing up the mess that
:28:58. > :29:02.Labour's left us with. You said divorce between the coalition
:29:03. > :29:06.parties is inevitable. How and when is that going to happen? Take us
:29:06. > :29:10.through the process? All I meant was that this was a
:29:10. > :29:13.five-year Parliament with a five- year coalition agreement. My
:29:13. > :29:16.politics haven't changed one inch since the coalition was formed.
:29:16. > :29:20.That was just the arithmetic that the last election left us with and
:29:20. > :29:25.we have to get on and create a workable majority and govern the
:29:25. > :29:29.country. That will end when the fixed term Parliament ends in 2015,
:29:29. > :29:33.that doesn't mean we can't campaign as a distinctive and individual
:29:33. > :29:36.political party with ore our own very separate message which is
:29:36. > :29:40.progressive, green, fair and liberal. That will continue up
:29:40. > :29:43.until the general election. There's bound to be some angst because two
:29:43. > :29:46.parties are co alesing in Government to try and run a
:29:46. > :29:50.Government but at the same time fighting against each other in
:29:50. > :29:53.elections but we are grown-ups and it's important to behave like that.
:29:53. > :29:57.Scotland and Wales are very used to having coalition Governments and
:29:57. > :29:59.why shouldn't we get used to it in the UK. Tim far Ron, thank you very
:29:59. > :30:02.much. If you want to win elections, you
:30:02. > :30:07.have to convince voters that they can trust you with the economy.
:30:07. > :30:11.It's hard enough in good times when money's flowing but even harder in
:30:11. > :30:17.times of austerity. With dogged constant opinions, it's suggested
:30:17. > :30:22.Labour has a long way to go on this task. The party's Shadow Business
:30:22. > :30:26.Secretary, Chuka Umunna joins me now. Good morning. Morning. Happy
:30:26. > :30:30.Easter. And to yourself. David Miliband, not Ed, wrote recently
:30:30. > :30:34.that Labour had a tough job to win back economic trust in 199 2 and
:30:34. > :30:42.it's an even tougher challenge today. Do you accept that, that
:30:42. > :30:47.people still don't trust Labour on I do not accept that analysis in
:30:47. > :30:55.the way that you have interpret hated it. Those were David
:30:55. > :31:03.Miliband's words, not mine. I think increasingly, what we have seen
:31:03. > :31:07.happen, as the economic statistics have stacked up, with more than 2
:31:07. > :31:10.million people being out of work, having no growth over five quarters,
:31:10. > :31:16.people are beginning to question whether they should be giving the
:31:16. > :31:23.benefit of the doubt to the coalition from stop -- to the
:31:23. > :31:26.coalition. From our point of view, everybody now accepts that the cost
:31:26. > :31:31.of living crisis is perhaps the biggest issue facing the country.
:31:31. > :31:34.When you look at the arguments we are making about growth being a
:31:35. > :31:38.prerequisite to reducing the country's debts, and actually
:31:39. > :31:43.people like the IMF saying that you need growth, all of those things,
:31:43. > :31:48.all of those arguments, have been going on. But this is a long game.
:31:48. > :31:52.We went down to our second biggest defeat in 2010, and the idea that
:31:52. > :31:56.suddenly the British public are going to turn around and say,
:31:56. > :32:05.actually, you're right now, it will not happen, it is going to take
:32:05. > :32:09.time. Polls over this weekend have not been showing any increase in
:32:09. > :32:15.trust for Labour, why is that? Is it a legacy of your time in
:32:15. > :32:19.government, or is it a lack of policy now? I'm slightly nervous
:32:19. > :32:23.about using the polls, because ultimately, the polls which matter
:32:24. > :32:27.are the elections. We have got local elections coming up in May,
:32:27. > :32:31.and the general election after that. But if you look at the polls that
:32:31. > :32:36.we have had, Labour is enjoying quite a lead at the moment. It is
:32:36. > :32:39.difficult to disentangle that from the message that we have been given.
:32:39. > :32:42.But we are humbled, this is a long journey, we have got to rebuild
:32:43. > :32:47.trust, and I believe we are doing that. If you look at the choices
:32:47. > :32:54.that the Government are making, where they have chosen to give
:32:54. > :32:59.14,000 people a huge tax break... But I want to talk about your
:32:59. > :33:03.policy. You have a five-point plan for growth - how many people
:33:03. > :33:07.actually know what that is? If you look at one of the parts of that
:33:07. > :33:11.plan, to give a national insurance break to small businesses, the
:33:11. > :33:17.small businesses have come out in support of that. If you look at the
:33:17. > :33:23.part which says about bringing forward infrastructure investment...
:33:23. > :33:29.What are the other three? We have got two VAT commitments, wanted to
:33:29. > :33:33.a temporary cut on VAT, and you have got the 5% rate of VAT on home
:33:33. > :33:37.improvements, and of course, you have got a repeat of the bank bonus
:33:37. > :33:43.tax, to make sure that those who essentially triggered the recession
:33:43. > :33:48.pay their fair share. Why is it not getting through? I do not accept
:33:48. > :33:54.that. Why has right been coming forward with this youth contract,
:33:54. > :33:57.it is because of what we have been arguing for, in relation to jobs. I
:33:57. > :34:02.could go through a whole list of things that we have been proposing,
:34:02. > :34:05.which have been resonating with businesses and individuals. I do
:34:05. > :34:09.not buy this argument that it has not been getting through.
:34:10. > :34:12.Budget went down pretty well with the business community, they liked
:34:12. > :34:18.the cuts in corporation tax and other things, and yet many
:34:18. > :34:25.businesses do not like Labour's anti-business rhetoric. You have
:34:25. > :34:29.got a big challenge there. First of all, I think there was a mixed
:34:29. > :34:35.response to the Budget. I think people welcomed the corporation tax
:34:35. > :34:38.cut, but they actually said, in fact, why didn't you do something
:34:38. > :34:41.about national insurance? If you look at some of the small
:34:41. > :34:45.businesses, especially in manufacturing, they were not
:34:45. > :34:49.terribly impressed with all aspects of the Budget. But also I do not
:34:49. > :34:54.accept that somehow there has been an T mack business rhetoric coming
:34:54. > :34:59.out of the Labour Party. We have been arguing for an industrial
:34:59. > :35:03.strategy, active government, using all the levers at its disposal, to
:35:03. > :35:08.support British business, not stepping aside and letting market
:35:08. > :35:13.forces do everything. It is very much what like people from the
:35:13. > :35:17.engineering sector have been arguing for. If you look at Vince
:35:17. > :35:24.Cable's leaked letter, he was begging the Prime Minister and the
:35:24. > :35:31.Deputy Prime Minister to adopt an active industrial strategy. But for
:35:31. > :35:35.ideological reasons, it was opposed within government. The Unite union
:35:35. > :35:42.is threatening a tanker strike, and that union is your party's biggest
:35:42. > :35:47.donor, so have you put pressure on Len McCluskey? I don't think a
:35:47. > :35:52.strike in any circumstances is a good thing. Have you spoken to Len
:35:52. > :35:56.McCluskey about it? Not personally. Why not? I will be meeting Len
:35:56. > :36:01.McCluskey shortly. But let me correct you on one thing, the
:36:01. > :36:05.majority of our funding, in our party, comes from our membership. I
:36:05. > :36:10.am not ashamed of our relationship with the trade unions. I cannot
:36:10. > :36:16.stand this way that you get people seeking to divide off trade unions
:36:16. > :36:26.and public sector workers on the one hand... What about the feeling
:36:26. > :36:30.from the unions that Labour owes them on certain issues in return
:36:30. > :36:37.for their support? We are talking about millions of hard-working
:36:37. > :36:43.people... Do you endorse the comments from Tom Watson, it is
:36:43. > :36:46.very straightforward, he says that the Labour Party should owe a
:36:46. > :36:50.respectful treatment to the unions and should give them an early heads
:36:50. > :37:00.upon policy change. Well, I think we should be respecting all
:37:00. > :37:04.
:37:04. > :37:08.stakeholders in society. I am not sure about giving them a heads-up.
:37:08. > :37:12.There have been instances where we have informed the unions in advance,
:37:12. > :37:16.but ultimately, we make the decision in the interests of the
:37:16. > :37:20.entire country. Let's not forget, this country would not be able to
:37:20. > :37:23.function, our businesses would not be able to function, were it not
:37:23. > :37:28.for trade union members contributing to our overall wealth
:37:28. > :37:32.and prosperity. I don't think that dividing up different parts of
:37:32. > :37:36.society is hopeful. A couple of quick questions about things in the
:37:36. > :37:39.news - tax transparency, do you think politicians should reveal
:37:40. > :37:45.their tax returns? On a personal level, I would not have a problem
:37:45. > :37:48.with that. We will match the Government on that. But let's not
:37:48. > :37:53.get distracted, because the reason this came up was because of the
:37:53. > :37:57.Government cutting the 50p rate of tax. That's obviously going to
:37:57. > :38:00.affect a very small number of people, and I think the public
:38:00. > :38:05.deserves to know whether ministers stand to benefit from this measure,
:38:06. > :38:11.which will benefit a very small number of people across the country.
:38:11. > :38:14.There has been more hacking action against the Home Office website -
:38:14. > :38:18.do you support that kind of direct action? I certainly would not
:38:18. > :38:21.support that, I don't think it is very helpful. If you have got
:38:21. > :38:25.grievances with government policy, then you should raise it in the
:38:25. > :38:28.usual way. We cannot have a situation where we have got people
:38:28. > :38:32.hacking into different websites, because many people rely on those
:38:32. > :38:40.websites, we're talking about the Home Office website and community
:38:40. > :38:45.safety issues. So, I would not support that, no. Thank you very
:38:45. > :38:49.much for joining us this morning. The actor Liam Neeson has been a
:38:49. > :38:55.powerful, often brooding presence on TV and cinema screens for 30
:38:55. > :38:59.years. He was hugely acclaimed in the 1990s for his portrayals of two
:39:00. > :39:04.real-life historical characters, Michael Collins and Oskar Schindler.
:39:04. > :39:14.More recently he has enjoyed success in blockbusters such as
:39:14. > :39:24.Star Wars, Batman, The Narnia Chronicles and Clash Of The Titans.
:39:24. > :39:39.
:39:39. > :39:46.I met him, and we started off by Warning red, weapons tight.
:39:46. > :39:55.Battleship was a chance, firstly to go to Hawaii, and secondly, Pearl
:39:55. > :39:59.Harbor, and to shoot on the USS Missouri, which was where the
:39:59. > :40:03.Japanese officially surrendered at the end of the Second World War. We
:40:03. > :40:08.did it with all of these naval cadets, and I was playing the
:40:08. > :40:12.Admiral of the fleet, and I had all the regalia on, so all these guys
:40:12. > :40:20.were just saluting me every time I went into a restaurant or something.
:40:20. > :40:24.I had to say, guys, please, don't! One of the interesting things about
:40:24. > :40:32.Battleship is that one of the actors is a limbless veterans, who
:40:32. > :40:36.lost both his legs in Iraq, I think. I find that fascinating. I have one
:40:36. > :40:43.little scene with him towards the end. I remember thinking, as he was
:40:43. > :40:50.walking towards me, and I am presenting him with a metal for his
:40:50. > :40:57.bravery, and he had a look in his eyes, no actor in the world could
:40:57. > :41:01.act that, what that man has seen, what he has experienced.
:41:01. > :41:06.Battleship the future of the action movie, lots of computer-generated
:41:06. > :41:11.graphics, based on a computer game, a huge amount of technology
:41:11. > :41:15.involved? It is something that Hollywood does fantastically. They
:41:15. > :41:25.do these movies, with all the bells and whistles. They do it incredibly
:41:25. > :41:29.well. I think the adult dramas are still very much independent.
:41:29. > :41:33.thing which intrigues me about films like this is the level of
:41:33. > :41:39.security around it, the scripts which a security codes and
:41:39. > :41:46.encryptions. They are so scared about piracy. I had another picture
:41:46. > :41:53.come out a few weeks ago, and two days after its release, I was in my
:41:53. > :41:58.little local Asian restaurant, in New York, and the owner said,
:41:58. > :42:07.wonderful film. I said, where did you see it, did you see it round
:42:07. > :42:11.the corner? He said, no, I watch DVD, Chinese subtitles. That was
:42:11. > :42:16.two days after the film came out. You were born in Ballymena, in
:42:16. > :42:20.Antrim, and you have spoken in the past about being able to watch Ian
:42:20. > :42:24.Paisley perform as a politician, as a preacher, and how that was one
:42:24. > :42:31.thing which got you interested in acting? Well, he was like a
:42:31. > :42:38.firebrand, a throwback to some 19th century preacher, you know? Very,
:42:38. > :42:48.very intimidating. But extraordinary. I remember a couple
:42:48. > :42:50.
:42:50. > :42:55.of times creeping into his Gospel Hall to hear him. Big, big man. I'm
:42:55. > :43:01.6ft 4, he was my height, twice as broad. Pretty electrifying. Do you
:43:01. > :43:09.go back to Belfast occasionally? Yes, I go back, my mum and sisters
:43:09. > :43:19.still live there. But it is no longer home. Famously, you're the
:43:19. > :43:23.voice of Aslan in the Narnia films, but you also play bad guys as well
:43:23. > :43:28.in other films. I do not really care what the genre is, as long as
:43:28. > :43:31.it is good quality. Does that mean that even though you have done a
:43:31. > :43:37.large spread of blockbusters, that actually, you're attracted to going
:43:37. > :43:43.back to do a bit more theatre and a bit more art-house stuff? Yes, very
:43:43. > :43:47.much so, I need to get back on stage again. Why? I feel I owe
:43:47. > :43:52.something to the world of theatre, that is where I started. It is
:43:52. > :44:01.great to do, especially if you have got a classic play. It is great to
:44:01. > :44:05.be in front of an audience. It predates cinema by 4,000 years. You
:44:06. > :44:10.feel you have to pay homage to it every now and again. For example,
:44:10. > :44:16.when you played Oskar Schindler, you were playing something which
:44:16. > :44:22.had meaning, which had a huge connection with the audience...
:44:22. > :44:31.was very intense, obviously, we had a lot of Israeli actors and
:44:31. > :44:35.actresses playing Holocaust victims, and there were many evenings when
:44:35. > :44:40.they would come back to the hotel, and we would try to meet them in
:44:40. > :44:45.the bar and buy them a drink, there were some very, very emotional
:44:45. > :44:54.scenes, and the cast found it hard hat times to hang up those things
:44:54. > :45:00.on the dressing room door. We all became very, very close. Ralph
:45:00. > :45:06.Fiennes is one of my oldest friends now. We have formed a little club.
:45:06. > :45:14.You had a very bad motorcycle accident. I did, in the year 2000.
:45:14. > :45:24.Did that change things? It means I never get on a motorbike again. I
:45:24. > :45:26.
:45:26. > :45:31.broke my pelvis in two places, I nearly died, all that stuff. Did it
:45:32. > :45:38.have any impact on the physicality? Strangely enough, no. I had
:45:38. > :45:48.fantastic surgeons. I have got bits of titanium in my body and stuff.
:45:48. > :45:53.
:45:53. > :45:56.I'm going to play LBJ. The former President? It's a film called the
:45:56. > :46:01.Butler. Are you playing him as a good or bad guy because he has a
:46:01. > :46:06.mixed press? He has a mixed press, yes, and there are two or three
:46:06. > :46:11.colourful scenes you know. Excellent. Thank you very much
:46:11. > :46:14.indeed. Thank you. Thank you. actor, Liam Neeson promising to
:46:14. > :46:19.hang up his light sabre and return to the theatre. Government
:46:19. > :46:22.ministers will be glad to put the last few weeks behind them no doubt,
:46:22. > :46:26.a Budget not welcomed, arguments within the coalition and petrol
:46:26. > :46:31.chaos. How do they gain the momentum. Grant Shapps joins me now.
:46:31. > :46:33.Good morning. Tim far Ron from the Liberal Democrats making it very
:46:33. > :46:37.clear that unless there are substantial changes to the green
:46:37. > :46:42.paper on security, he's going to block it. Aren't you going to have
:46:42. > :46:45.to start trimming it again, just as you did on the Health Bill?
:46:45. > :46:48.most important thing is that people here feel they are safe and being
:46:48. > :46:51.protected from anything which might go wrong and terrorists might do.
:46:51. > :46:55.You have already got the powers with things like telephones,
:46:55. > :46:59.including mobile phones, things like your mail that comes through
:46:59. > :47:04.the post, obviously as technology changes, you need to keep track
:47:04. > :47:08.with those things. I'm a great civil libertarian and wouldn't want
:47:08. > :47:12.to see anything which is overarching, which is why these
:47:12. > :47:16.proposals are not to do what Labour say, set up a massive database,
:47:16. > :47:18.just store information for a year in case, under specific
:47:18. > :47:22.circumstances and properly authorised, something is required
:47:22. > :47:25.in terms of when communication went backwards and forwards, not even
:47:25. > :47:28.the contents of it. That's a reasonable approach so the public
:47:28. > :47:31.would expect Government to protect in that kind of way. Tim far Ron
:47:31. > :47:35.says that's not reasonable. He's got serious concerns about this, so
:47:35. > :47:39.the Liberal Democrats are wrong and as the Government, will you hold
:47:40. > :47:44.firm? In the green room, I saw his interview, and he actually said, we
:47:44. > :47:47.need to make sure that we are a Government that appreciates and
:47:47. > :47:49.protects people's civil liberties. By the way, part the way through
:47:49. > :47:54.passing the freedom Bill in the House of Lords right now, that
:47:54. > :47:59.strips away many of the things the last Government tried to do to be
:47:59. > :48:03.overarching and overbearing on many of our freedoms. We won't introduce
:48:03. > :48:09.anything that's overbearing. far Ron said he was prepared to
:48:09. > :48:14.kill this? He actually is very, very keen to make sure, as am I and
:48:14. > :48:18.everybody in this Government, to make sure preem are properly
:48:18. > :48:22.protected and to have up-to-date modern laws, that won't be
:48:22. > :48:27.overbearing and it will make sure that it's put on the same status as
:48:27. > :48:29.using a mobile phone at the moment. -- make sure people are properly
:48:29. > :48:34.protected. We are discussing this on a day when the Home Office
:48:34. > :48:38.website has been hacked into. How concerned are you about that?
:48:38. > :48:43.concerning in that it shows how reliant we are on modern technology
:48:43. > :48:48.and Internet sites and so on. Chuka made a very good point which is
:48:48. > :48:51.that people rely on a site like that for information like community
:48:51. > :48:55.safety. It's important that people realise there's no advantage in
:48:55. > :48:59.trying to block sites. The site is up and running right now, I checked.
:48:59. > :49:05.This is the modern world we live in and people will try to do these
:49:05. > :49:10.things. Let's talk about your Government. Pasty-gate, granny tax,
:49:10. > :49:13.Tory dinners in Downing Street, incompetence allegations over the
:49:13. > :49:17.petrol non-crisis. What's gone wrong? There are two ways you can
:49:17. > :49:21.govern. You can either look for tomorrow's headline, in which case
:49:21. > :49:26.you spend all your time trying to do the soft stories which don't
:49:26. > :49:30.make much difference in the long- term but makior popular, or YouGov
:49:30. > :49:33.earn with the horizon in view all the time and trying to make sure
:49:33. > :49:37.you do things that are right for the country. If you look at the
:49:37. > :49:41.tough times that we live in, the fact that we have brought a
:49:41. > :49:44.coalition together of two parties willing to try to make the tough
:49:44. > :49:49.decisions, halfway through, is it a surprise that things are difficult
:49:49. > :49:53.- not at all. But Governments... It's important to carry on and make
:49:53. > :49:55.sure we introduce the changes needed. Governments have to make
:49:55. > :49:59.arguments and persuade people, take people with them. Isn't there a
:49:59. > :50:04.risk that people are thinking either this is an incompetent
:50:04. > :50:08.Government or a Government that's not all in it together? We can
:50:08. > :50:13.spend an interview talking about pasties and so on or we can talk
:50:13. > :50:17.about the big issues. If you ask what people really understand about
:50:17. > :50:21.the Government, the number one thing people would say is, this is
:50:21. > :50:25.a Government that appreciates we mustn't end up like Greece, we
:50:25. > :50:28.can't afford to let the country go bust and that's where we were
:50:28. > :50:31.headed under the previous administration. If you ask people
:50:31. > :50:34.what has the Government got right, it's the deficit reduction, it's
:50:35. > :50:38.ensuring that Britain stays on the straight and level. Keeps the
:50:38. > :50:43.triple A rating. The opinion polls suggest you are a party of chums
:50:43. > :50:47.and that this idea of eliteism and a clique at the top of the
:50:47. > :50:52.Government is gathering pace. How damaging is that? The most
:50:52. > :50:57.important thing is, you mentioned the Budget before, look what it did
:50:57. > :51:01.to two million people, took them out of paying any tax at all.
:51:01. > :51:05.Taxpayers... 24 million people whose tax bill each week will be
:51:05. > :51:10.reduced by �6.30. This is the Government that understands that
:51:10. > :51:15.what you need to do is govern for everyone. Like the pasties, if we
:51:15. > :51:19.want an obsessive discussion about who knows when, for the record, I
:51:19. > :51:23.didn't even know David Cameron before I was elected to this
:51:23. > :51:26.Parliament. What's worse, to be accused of incompetence or being a
:51:26. > :51:29.party of the rich? Not being prepared to take on the big changes
:51:29. > :51:33.this country needs is the worst thing. Like the welfare reform.
:51:33. > :51:37.It's interesting revealing that you sit down for an interview like this
:51:37. > :51:40.and talk about the tittle-tattle rather than the welfare Bill we
:51:40. > :51:45.passed into a law which means from now on, people will always be
:51:45. > :51:50.better off in work, rather than on welfare and taking people out of
:51:50. > :51:54.being trapped on benefits. Those are the real issues, the deficit
:51:54. > :51:58.reduction and things that change this country like Michael Gove's
:51:58. > :52:04.education reforms. We can talk about pasties and who knows who for
:52:04. > :52:08.how long but it matters how YouGov earn the country. Tax returns,
:52:08. > :52:12.should the rest of the Government publish these things? I have
:52:12. > :52:15.nothing against that. Transparency is a good thing. My department,
:52:15. > :52:19.Communities and Local Government, for example, we publish everything
:52:19. > :52:23.over �500, publish the entire Government credit card and it's
:52:23. > :52:28.really... Do you have faith in politicians, and more so if they
:52:28. > :52:30.were more open? Perhaps that's a good idea and maybe we should have
:52:30. > :52:35.public institutions and maybe the BBC journalists should release
:52:35. > :52:38.theirs so everything is transparent. Very quickly. Some people say you
:52:38. > :52:41.should be party chairman. Do you want to be? We have a party
:52:41. > :52:46.chairman, I love what I'm doing with housing and it's important to
:52:46. > :52:50.get enough homes built. That's why I'm focused entirely on that job.
:52:50. > :52:55.Thank you very much. Over to Naga for the news headlines. The leader
:52:55. > :52:58.of the biggest teaching union, the NASUWT, says her union is very
:52:58. > :53:01.serious about further strike action in its dispute with the Government
:53:01. > :53:05.over pay and conditions. Christine Keates told the programme
:53:05. > :53:09.that strikes would be a last resort and she said that her union members
:53:09. > :53:13.had no intention to walk out during the summer exam season.
:53:13. > :53:18.We would be looking I think towards the autumn term, but we first would
:53:18. > :53:22.be looking at escalating our action short of strike action and we have
:53:22. > :53:26.been working with parent groups, PTA groups, Governors, to talk to
:53:26. > :53:30.them about what our real concerns are and try to engage them in our
:53:30. > :53:33.campaign of trying to get the Government to listen to the serious
:53:33. > :53:37.concerns of the profession. President of the Liberal Democrats,
:53:37. > :53:41.Tim far Ron, has said that his party is prepared to kill the
:53:41. > :53:44.Government's proposals to monitor people's e-mail communications and
:53:44. > :53:47.Internet activities. The Home Secretary said today that a Bill
:53:47. > :53:51.will be included in the Queen's speech next month.
:53:51. > :53:53.A man has been charged with a public order offence after a
:53:54. > :53:57.swimmer interrupted yesterday's boat race between Oxford and
:53:57. > :54:01.Cambridge universities. He's been named as Trenton Oldfield who is
:54:01. > :54:05.aged 35 and lives in the Whitechapel area of London. The
:54:05. > :54:08.race was restarted after a half hour delay and Cambridge won. One
:54:08. > :54:12.of the Oxford rowers collapsed after the race and is said to be in
:54:12. > :54:16.a stable condition in hospital. That is all from me this morning.
:54:16. > :54:20.The next news is on BBC One at 1.35. Now back to James.
:54:20. > :54:23.Thank you very much indeed. Now, several Oxbridge colleges are
:54:23. > :54:27.famous for their world class choirs and the choir of New College Oxford
:54:27. > :54:33.is one of the most renowned for its beautiful and distinctive sound.
:54:33. > :54:36.During term time, the choir sings at the daily services in the
:54:37. > :54:40.college's atmospheric 14th century chapel. They also tour
:54:40. > :54:45.internationally and have made many recordings. They have a new album
:54:45. > :54:50.of sacred music out now called Illumina, Music of Light. So who
:54:50. > :54:54.better to perform for us this Sunday morning. We are delighted to
:54:54. > :54:59.welcome the choir to the studio with his choir, Edward Higginbottom,
:54:59. > :55:02.what kind of sound are you creating with the choir? The new sound is
:55:02. > :55:06.good vocal tuition, we teach them to sing, but the really important
:55:06. > :55:11.thing is that every one of them releases their personality with the
:55:11. > :55:14.singing. I want each of them to be individually personalised in their
:55:14. > :55:20.singing and bring to it their energy and commitment in that way.
:55:20. > :55:25.I imagine this takes a huge amount of work. Felix, what is your day
:55:25. > :55:31.like? Well, on a Monday we have two hours' practise, one at lunch time
:55:31. > :55:34.and one in the evening. Then every single day of the week, we have a
:55:34. > :55:38.service and a lunch time practise, apart from Wednesday, so it's hard
:55:38. > :55:42.work, but if you are committed it's good fun. You have time for school
:55:42. > :55:47.work and family and fun, do you? Yes, because before the services we
:55:47. > :55:52.have something called choir prep so we can do that. Is it something
:55:52. > :56:01.that is different to other choirs? You were saying you are less formal,
:56:01. > :56:03.more relaxed? Look at us. No roughs. Not today at least. OK. Great. Look.
:56:03. > :56:07.Thank you all very much. Looking forward to it. That's almost it for
:56:07. > :56:11.today. Thanks to all my guests, Andrew is back next week and he'll
:56:11. > :56:16.be joined here in the studio by the Labour Leader, Ed Miliband. That's
:56:16. > :56:21.at the usual time of 9 o'clock, but note, on BBC Two, motor racing on
:56:21. > :56:29.BBC One next week, the Andrew Marr show on BBC Two. For now, we leave
:56:29. > :56:39.you with the choir of New College Oxford singing the Lord Bless You &
:56:39. > :56:39.
:56:39. > :57:24.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 44 seconds
:57:24. > :57:29.Keep You. Enjoy the rest of your # And be gracious unto you
:57:29. > :57:36.# The Lord bless you and keep you # The Lord make His face to shine
:57:36. > :57:42.upon you # The Lord lift up the light of his
:57:42. > :57:46.countenance upon you # The Lord lift up the light of his